AP Journalists Tell Judge That White House Ban Has Hurt Their Ability To Report On Donald Trump, Warn Of Chilling Effect On Other Media

Yahoo

27-03-2025

The Associated Press' lead White House correspondent and photographer testified today that the Trump administration's ban on their access to the Oval Office and other events has hurt their ability to report on the president.
Correspondent Zeke Miller told Judge Trevor McFadden that, since the White House ban on the AP on Feb. 11, and the White House's subsequent decision to take control of the presidential pool, he has observed a 'softening tone and tenor of questions' directed at the president. He said that it was his 'subjective impression,' but noted that more questions are being asked that are not about the news of the day.
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Although he said that the AP has not been intimidated by the White House's restrictions, he said that 'undoubtedly our reporting has suffered,' citing the competitive disadvantage in speed and detail in not having first-hand access to the president. The AP is one of the largest news organizations in the world.
'We don't know what we are missing out on,' Miller said. 'That is a huge loss to the way we do our jobs.'
The Associated Press sued White House officials after they were excluded from Oval Office pool coverage, as well as other Trump events and Air Force One departures.
Trump and his aides were explicit that the reasons for the exclusion were because the AP's style guidance refused to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf America. On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order to rename the body of water. But the AP declined to do so, because other countries have not recognized the rebrand, although the news organization does acknowledge Trump's order.
Last month, McFadden declined to issue a temporary restraining order to immediately restore the AP's access, but he set the case on an expedited schedule.
Since then, the White House has taken control of who is part of the press pool, the smaller group of reporters who cover the president in settings where space is more limited. For decades, the non-profit White House Correspondents' Association has handled the scheduling and logistics of the pool, keeping those decisions in the hands of journalists.
The White House has argued that the AP is still allowed to participate in press room briefings and has access to the campus, while it can rely on pool reports, photos and video as other reporters do.
But Evan Vucci, the AP's chief photographer in Washington, noted the AP's reach to 4 billion people. He also said that the Oval Office restrictions have denied the media organization the ability to capture unique situations, like certain looks and gestures from the president and others. The AP's lead attorney, Charles Tobin, noted that Vucci took the iconic photo of Trump raising his fist following his assassination attempt, and it was even used as the cover image on the president's book, Save America.
'Since we have been excluded, we are really struggling,' Vucci said, noting that they are not able to get the variety of images that subscribers want, and at a slower speed them at a disadvantage to rivals on the beat.
At one point, Tobin displayed front page photos from more than two dozen publications following Trump's infamous Oval Office visit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. None were from the AP, Vucci said. A foreign AP photographer, traveling with Zelensky, was allowed in the meeting, but Vucci said that his speciality was more in video.
The problem, Vucci said, was that the AP did not have a White House-assigned photographer in the room who understands the environment and who is there. 'It kills us,' he said.
The case is being closely watched given concerns news organizations have about Trump's efforts to undermine reporting he does not like. He has called the news media the 'enemy of the people,' while in his second term, his FCC chair, Brendan Carr, is in the midst of inquiries of CBS and ABC over their news content.
Julie Pace, the AP's executive editor, wrote in an op ed in The Wall Street Journal this morning, 'The White House claims this is simply a matter of changing which news organizations have access to the president. But it's nothing less than a brazen attempt to punish the AP for using words the president doesn't like. It's also meant to show other media outlets what will happen if they don't fall in line.'
She added, 'The AP has no corporate owner and no shareholders. If we don't step up to defend Americans' right to speak freely, who will? Today the U.S. government wants to control the AP's speech. Tomorrow it could be someone else's. '
McFadden is weighing whether to grant to AP a preliminary injunction to restore its access. He hinted to attorneys that he was considering a potential middle ground, distinguishing the very limited access of Oval Office events from those that are in the East Room and open to a larger group of credentialed White House reporters.
In their briefs in the case, White House officials say that it is Trump's right to decide who gets access to areas such as the Oval Office, just as he can decide who to grant a one-on-one interview. Taylor Budowich, the deputy White House chief of staff, claimed in a court declaration this week that the AP was 'eligible for pool selection.' But the AP contended that is not true, and that it has been restricted for the past five weeks.
The Trump administration offered no witnesses in the case, and only one person sat at the defense table today, Brian Hudak, the chief of the civil division at the Justice Department.
He said that 'there is a clear showing' that the AP has not suffered irreparable harm by the restrictions, while noting that as of this month, AP reporters or photographers have been given access to events like the president's arrival at the tarmac at Palm Beach airport and East Room appearances. AP photographers have been part of the foreign pool since then, as part of a foreign leader's delegation.
But Miller said that AP's correspondents were still being turned away, excluded from more than 60 events since Feb. 11.
More to come.
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